Collection of foods and their benefits gathered from various sources:
Ginger (southeast Asia)
+ treats nausea, stomach upsets, sea sickness
+ ease arthritis pain
+ anti- inflammation, anti-cancer
http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/video/whoknew-uses-ginger-medicine-cookies-060000444.html
Noni (India, Pacific islands)
+ softens coarse/hard skin (apply externally)
+ anti-cancer
Ginkgo (China, acidic soil, since 250m yrs ago; live up to 2,500 yrs)
+ enhance memory, reduce dementia
+ improve blood flow, anti-clot
+ anto-oxidant
- pregnant woman should avoid
* 6 Ginkgo trees within 2km of Hiroshima atom bomb site are still alive today!
Cassava
+ vitamin B17 (anti-cancer)
Spanish Thyme
+ anti-bacterial
+ treat cough, sore throat
Showing posts with label Health/Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health/Food. Show all posts
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Eye Care and Eye Exercises
Read more: Eye Lid Sagging Exercises | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5439593_eye-lid-sagging-exercises.html#ixzz1zY5Xe8Kr
CAUSES OF PTOSIS (DROOPING EYELID)
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/p/ptosis/causes.htm
THE BEST FOODS FOR YOUR EYES
(CCK Note: As you read, notice that most of the foods listed are plants especially seeds and fruits which are where plants concentrate their 'most precious' resources to provide for successful propagation i.e. survival of their next generation. Sweet potato and carrot plants propagate through their roots which is why their roots are so rich with 'good stuffs')
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/eye-love-you-the-best-foods-for-your-eyes-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Feye-love-you-the-best-foods-for-your-eyes-slideshow%252Ffood-for-good-eyes-photo-1342427891.html
With steeply rising numbers of people suffering from macular degeneration, cataract and other eye problems, it has become all the more important to follow a diet plan that includes foods that reduce the risk of these eye conditions.
Carrots: The saying turned out to be true. Carrots are actually good for your eyes. Rich in beta-carotene, that protects the eye and reduces the risk of cataracts, carrots can easily be included in your diet in the form of salads or stir-fried veggies.
CAUSES OF PTOSIS (DROOPING EYELID)
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/p/ptosis/causes.htm
THE BEST FOODS FOR YOUR EYES
(CCK Note: As you read, notice that most of the foods listed are plants especially seeds and fruits which are where plants concentrate their 'most precious' resources to provide for successful propagation i.e. survival of their next generation. Sweet potato and carrot plants propagate through their roots which is why their roots are so rich with 'good stuffs')
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/eye-love-you-the-best-foods-for-your-eyes-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Feye-love-you-the-best-foods-for-your-eyes-slideshow%252Ffood-for-good-eyes-photo-1342427891.html
With steeply rising numbers of people suffering from macular degeneration, cataract and other eye problems, it has become all the more important to follow a diet plan that includes foods that reduce the risk of these eye conditions.
Carrots: The saying turned out to be true. Carrots are actually good for your eyes. Rich in beta-carotene, that protects the eye and reduces the risk of cataracts, carrots can easily be included in your diet in the form of salads or stir-fried veggies.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Guide to Healthy Living
Health Tips from Mayo Clinic
(Mayo Clinic is one of the top medical centers in the world. Their site also gives good diagnostic guides for all medical problems) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dietary-guidelines/MY01594
Drink Lots of Water (but Beware of What's in It)
More than 70% of our body is water. The brain has higher water content than other cells.
Water is a powerful solvent that helps remove wastes and toxins from our body.
1. Before sleep, drink a glass of water. After 8 hours of sleep the body will be very dehydrated. So immediately after waking up, drink at least 2 glasses of water and wash face and back of neck with water to moisturise the skin
2. Make sure you drink lots of water throughout the day. DO NOT wait until you are thirsty. Water here refers to plain water or liquids from fresh fruits like fresh coconut water or fresh soya bean drink, and not 'contaminated water' in liquids like coffee, tea, canned juices and soft drinks which are highly acidic and harmful to our bodies (see notes below on man-made foods and drinks).
3. Reduce the invisible poisons in drinking water
Pipes corrode over time. Many house pipes are made of copper or plastic because they are cheaper than steel pipes which are less liable to corrosion and decomposition. Copper pipes corrode quickly into poisonous copper oxide (which gives a bluish tinge to water coming out of unused taps).
Plastic in plastic pipes and plastic water containers decompose into toxic powders that cannot be seen by the naked eye. [Note: When I advise people shopping for water bottles not to buy plastic ones, the response I always get is 'but the label says it is BPA free'. But they never wonder why the label only say ONE toxic chemical is not present. What about the other toxic chemicals?]
Pipe water supplied by water utilities and swimming pools are treated with Chlorine to kill germs and bacteria but that same chlorine is highly toxic to our bodies (our cells are not very different from bacteria). Chlorine is one of the most poisonous element known. Public swimming pools have much higher concentration of chlorine than pipe water and their water is therefore very poisonous (therefore do not use such pools too often). Many poisonous insecticides and weed killers etc. are compounds with Chlorine as a component.
To reduce the level of toxins in water we drink, do the following:
- do not use water from long unused pipes for drinking. Drain a few liters from the taps before collecting for drinking purposes (keep the initial few liters for washing purposes). This is especially the case early in the morning when water had stayed in the pipes overnight
- use activated carbon filters: activated carbon absorbs dangerous chemicals including Chlorine
- keep water overnight in a steel container or steel cooking pot (do not use plastic water bottles) to give time for the dissolved chlorine to escape into the air
- boil water before drinking: heating cause the water to lose some of the Chlorine in addition to killing bacteria
- use glass, ceramic or steel water containers and bottles (do not use plastic ones)
4. Drinking slightly alkaline water MAY help because ingestion of meats and man-made foods which are highly acidic upsets the pH balance in our body. Alkaline water also dissolves oils and fats (one cause of stroke and heart attacks) better. Investigations found that water in some parts of the world where the people tend to live longer are slightly alkaline (because their water sources are in areas with alkaline rocks etc).
Meats and water with dissolved chemicals (due to pollution, corrosion and chemical treatment etc) and all the man-made foods tend to be acidic and upset the pH balance in our body if not neutralised. Cancer thrive in acidic environment.
There are water treatment units sold publicly that make water slightly alkaline. In 2011, I bought steel capsules containing organic stones (containing alkaline sources like calcium etc.) that can be used for 3 years selling at S$50 each.
But BEWARE:
- although drinking slightly alkaline water does no harm, there is no scientific proof that it makes a lot of difference either (because it gets neutralised immediately by acid in our stomach). Our body is a very complicated system and simply drinking slightly alkaline water is not the 'solve all'. It is better to minimise pH imbalance in our body by simply avoiding too much acidic meat and manufactured food/drink intake, and drinking lots of water throughout the day!
- One multi-level marketing (MLM) company I know of sell 'Kangen machines' (from Japan) that produce 'ionized alkaline' water for S$5,000 but there is no proof that they work (the MLM was also giving most of that money out as 'bonuses' to the various levels of introducers!)
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-admire-her-old-water-and-not.html
GENERAL EATING GUIDE
Go Vegetarian Once a While and not eat meat for 1-2 days or regularly not have meat during alternate meals. You will feel very clean inside and fresh after that! Your faeces will not stink like when you eat meat. Note: A low-meat diet will make you sensitive to people who eat too much meat as they would smell of the animals they eat e.g. chinese people who like pork smell like pig when they get near to me which turns me off!
Eat easy to digest foods like fruits, soups, curds and porridge. Meats that are difficult to digest and the toxins they contain stress the body and shorten life span.
Avoid pre-cooked hawker food and utensils. If have to, take food served in hot & plain soups.
Never over eat, stop once you feel full. Over eating increases metabolic rate of cells which shortens their life span.
Do not lie down on couch or sleep after meals. Try to keep standing or go for a walk for 30 minutes. Otherwise make sure to sit upright. This is to avoid 'acid reflux' which is the back-flow of acid from stomach into oesophagus which will 'burn' linings in oesophagus resulting in 'chest burn' sensation.
Do NOT eat or drink acidic liquids 3 hours before sleep. Do not have oily and fatty food including milk and acidic drinks (like coffee, citrus fruit juice and soft drinks) at least 3 hours before going to bed. Consuming fatty and acidic food before sleeping triggers acid production in stomach that may 'burn' stomach ('gastric burn') and oesophagus ('acid reflux'). If hungry, drink hot milo, horlick, oat, sesame etc. (these drinks are starch based which require less stomach acid to digest). Use low fat milk if needed.
List of Good Foods:
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-foods-for-fabulous-abs.html
Healthy Breakfast Regime
- drink at least 2 glasses of water after waking and before eating
- eat 1 half-boiled egg or sandwich with fried egg
- avoid coffee and tea (malted drinks etc are better)
- brush teeth after eating (not before)
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2001/02/what-smart-chinese-feed-their-children.html
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/dental-care.html
[Note: caffeine in coffee and black tea (as opposed to chinese and green tea) are acidic and thickens blood. Thick blood results in bad circulation and reduces its ability to dissolve and remove oil/fat and harmful substances from body and blood vessels thus contributing to strokes and heart attacks. Green and Chinese tea on the other hand thins blood and helps in dissolving oil/fat and harmful substances]
Eat Lots of Fruits, Nuts, Beans and Vegetables
They are all great sources of vitamins, anti-oxidants and essential minerals (only plants can produce vitamins, animals cannot). Like egg is to animals, fruits, nuts and beans are the 'future children' of plants. Because of that, nature 'invests heavily' in them to ensure survival of the species by making sure they contain all the best and important ingredients for growth and health of their young!
Eat freshly cut fruits. Do not eat cut fruits left on stalls without ice or not in fridges. They may be infested with bacteria after long expsoure.
Take Traditional Chinese Herbal Soups
Chinese long ago had experimented with various herbs and found the ones that are most helpful in maintaining good health. Traditional Chinese soups containing ginseng, 'tang gui', red plums, etc are good anti-oxidants and body cleansers. http://www.chinese-traditional-food.com/chinese-soups.html
Take them every 1 to 2 weeks and change the variety of soup and herbs each time.
Fight Bad Bacteria with Good Bacteria (the Indian Way)
Indians long ago found out that yogurt is good for health because it contains good bacteria. Our body, especially our gut, is full of bacteria. We can never get rid of them. In fact, we need good bacteria to help digestion and control the spread of bad bacteria. The cells in our body also contain ancient 'captured bacteria' that perform functions critical to our cell survival (you can say our body is a collection of bacteria!). Excesive bad bateria can cause big tummy, illness and cancer. Our body need good bacteria to function properly.
Take a few spoonful of yogurt 2 or 3 times a week (I recommend traditional indian yogurt sold by indian traditional shops - 300 cc for $1.20 - cheap and good).
Or drink 'lassi' which is prepared by mixing a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a pinch of salt in a glass of water. It is a tasty health drink!
[Note: bad bacteria (from gut) that get into our blood causes plaque to form in blood vessels (like plaque in teeth/gum) and is one cause of heart attacks and strokes]
Eat Freshly Prepared Food (Not more than 4 hours)Recently, the Singapore government came up with a law requiring all food caterers to label their food preparation time and warned people not to consume food more than 4 hours old because bacterial growth is significantly higher when kept beyond 4 hours.
When consuming home cooked meals:
- consume immediately after preparation
- place unconsumed food in fridge immediately.
- do not consume food kept in fridge for more than 2 days (bacteria can still grow in cold conditions, just slower).
When re-heating frozen foods:
- use normal ovens versus microwave ovens. Normal ovens produce real heat while microwave ovens do not (they use magnetic induction which is different from heating)
- re-heat for at least 4 minutes in medium or high temperature
- leave food in oven a few more minutes after that to let the heat inside continue killing bacteria
When consuming outside food:
- avoid pre-cooked foods or re-heat them before consuming
- order food that will be cooked only when you order it
- food served in hot or boiling soup is preferred as the hot water helps kill bacteria
- if not sure, pick Indian briyani rice and food cooked in curry. Their spices have natural anti-bacterial properties (and India's gift to humanity)
[Notes:
- it is better to avoid outside food because most sellers use MSG which is poisonous
- they also do not wash ingredients properly
- hawker center tables and utensils are extremely dirty
- I always order dishes fresh out from the kitchens if lucky to see them being brought out]
Avoid All Man-made Foods, Sauces and DrinksAll canned and packaged foods and drinks (like soft drinks), and man-made sauces (tomato sauce, salad dressings etc), food sweeteners (like artificial sugar) and taste enhancers (like MSG) are poisonous and bad for health. They are not natural and do not exist in the natural environment!
Such 'manufactured' foods and drinks are made to last a few years because it is 'essential for business' (not health). It takes a few months to transport them from their factories to supermarkets around the world where they sit on shop selves and in people's kitchen cabinets for months before they are consumed. The reason why those foods and drinks can last so long is because they have been treated with chemicals (also known as 'preservatives') that kill off bacteria and germs, and stop them from growing. If those chemicals are poisonous to germs and bacteria, they are also poisonous to the cells in our bodies which are very similar in makeup to bacteria (read up about human cells).
Those chemicals also tend to make the foods and drinks acidic which is harmful to our bodies. Acids for example, dissolve the calcium in our bones resulting in under-development of bones and osteoporosis (weak bones) in old age.
[Note: If we leave a piece of fruit or meat on the table it would turn bad within a few hours because bacteria has started to eat it and multiplied. So how can those same things last for years in cans and plastic containers/bags?! Their manufacturers do not have magic. They are just using poisons to kill bacteria and stop them from re-growing! Those chemicals will have the same effect on our bodies except that it takes a longer time to take effect (and before we see their effects like cancers) because of our bodies' ability to heal itself. But the body can only do so much. Excessive dosage of those harmful chemicals would inevitably overwhelm the body's defences]
Avoid Farmed and Burnt Meat
All farmed animals (including farmed fish) contain high levels of man-made chemicals like growth hormones (to make them grow fast) and anti-biotics (to keep them from falling sick and die).
All these chemicals are not only toxic to our body but they are difficult to get rid off and therefore remain in our bodies for long periods. That is also why farmed meats should be avoided (more than farmed vegetables) - the toxins collected in those animals remains there and get passed on to us when we eat them. That is why cancers are highly related to the amount of meat consumed.
Over heating or burning foods like meat also change their chemical properties and make them highly toxic. So avoid burnt and barbequed meats, and fried foods!
But because protein is important for our health, one should not avoid meat entirely. Take them in small amounts. Beans, eggs, fish and seafood are better sources of proteins.
Avoid western foods. They use lots of meat and man-made sauces. If have to, choose fish burger or fish fillet.
Why Fish and Seafood?
One reason is because they live in water and water is a great solvent and cleanser! There is a higher chance that toxins in them will be removed by the water they swim and breathe in round the clock. Sea fish and seafood are preferable to fresh water ones for 2 reasons: the sea is less polluted than ponds (because of sheer size) and there is better chance that they are wild fish instead of farmed ones.
Another reason is they contain good Omega-3 oil and other minerals like iodine.
But BEWARE: seafood like mussels, cockels, clams and prawns are 'vacuum cleaners of the sea' meaning that they eat all the dead and 'dirty' matters at bottom of sea. Therefore toxins will accumulate in them - the bigger they are the more toxins. So choose the smallest sized ones!
[Notes: A friend of mine related this story. He has a businessman friend whose chicken farms supply chickens to KFC for the whole of Malaysia. That man told my friend that he does not eat chicken and advised my friend not to eat chicken. This was what he said 'in Nature, it takes a chicken 6 to 9 months to mature but we can do it in less than 2 months. How do you think we do that? We pump them with growth hormones!'
My mother also heard the same thing from small chicken farmers near my sisters home in a small town - they do not eat the chicken they sell, the ones they eat are 'kampung chickens' not fed with those chemicals.
Some chicken sold by supermarkets are labelled as 'free range' chickens. The 'theory' is they get to run around and are therefore healthier but it is just hype. They still feed them with lots of hormones and anti-biotics.
The same friend also told me about a friend he knew who died of intestinal cancer at about 40. That man liked to eat fried mee so much he had them every day! Intestinal cancer is one of the top killers in Malaysia and Singapore.
A cousin of mine died of intestinal cancer at age 41. I heard that he and family used to like eating satay a lot (burnt meat). When we visited him at home after he was diagnosed with that problem, we talked about the need to cut down on meat consumption. His response was 'yes, we cut down on meat a lot already'. So when we were invited to have lunch with them I was surprised to see that 3 out of 4 dishes had meat! Then I told myself that they did not know what they were talking about.]
Get Lots of Fresh Air
Like man-made food, 'modern' houses are all made with man-made materials like cement, fiberglass, asbestos, plastics, paints etc. which are all not natural and in many cases toxic. Those materials vaporize into the surrounding air and build up if those air is not expelled into the outside. That is why extended use of air-con is not healthy - they necessitate sealing up the house (to save energy) which result in accumulation of those toxins and reduction of oxygen level as they are used up over time.
For the same reason, air-coned public areas like malls and offices are the 'best' conveyors of air-born diseases like flu etc.
To maximise introduction of fresh air and keep house cool:
- have in-door live plants. They help absorb some of the toxins and introduce fresh oxygen into the air (the same way water plants treat water)
- create unblocked passages for fresh air to pass through house e.g. opening 1 window but closing all others stops air flow
- help push air into or out of house by placing fans at strategic locations along air passage preferably at entry and exit points like windows and door entrances
- make sure the fan assisted air-flow travel in one direction e.g. by not having 2 fans blowing in opposite directions
Have Regular Exercises and Sunlight
Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. Exercise keeps the body and bone in shape.
Sunlight is important as it helps body to produce Vitamin D that cannot be gotten from any food. But too strong sunlight is dangerous because too much UV causes skin cancer. That is why brisk walks in early morning or evening is best (make sure to wear shoes with good 'shock absorption' to minimise damage to joints).
Have stretching exercises like bending, turning, sit ups daily.
Preferably children should play games daily with friend especially team games against team opponents. Team sports help to develop the brain, strengthen bones and muscles, develop hand-eye coordination, promote team work and helps children learn to read body language!
(Mayo Clinic is one of the top medical centers in the world. Their site also gives good diagnostic guides for all medical problems) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dietary-guidelines/MY01594
Drink Lots of Water (but Beware of What's in It)
More than 70% of our body is water. The brain has higher water content than other cells.
Water is a powerful solvent that helps remove wastes and toxins from our body.
1. Before sleep, drink a glass of water. After 8 hours of sleep the body will be very dehydrated. So immediately after waking up, drink at least 2 glasses of water and wash face and back of neck with water to moisturise the skin
2. Make sure you drink lots of water throughout the day. DO NOT wait until you are thirsty. Water here refers to plain water or liquids from fresh fruits like fresh coconut water or fresh soya bean drink, and not 'contaminated water' in liquids like coffee, tea, canned juices and soft drinks which are highly acidic and harmful to our bodies (see notes below on man-made foods and drinks).
3. Reduce the invisible poisons in drinking water
Pipes corrode over time. Many house pipes are made of copper or plastic because they are cheaper than steel pipes which are less liable to corrosion and decomposition. Copper pipes corrode quickly into poisonous copper oxide (which gives a bluish tinge to water coming out of unused taps).
Plastic in plastic pipes and plastic water containers decompose into toxic powders that cannot be seen by the naked eye. [Note: When I advise people shopping for water bottles not to buy plastic ones, the response I always get is 'but the label says it is BPA free'. But they never wonder why the label only say ONE toxic chemical is not present. What about the other toxic chemicals?]
Pipe water supplied by water utilities and swimming pools are treated with Chlorine to kill germs and bacteria but that same chlorine is highly toxic to our bodies (our cells are not very different from bacteria). Chlorine is one of the most poisonous element known. Public swimming pools have much higher concentration of chlorine than pipe water and their water is therefore very poisonous (therefore do not use such pools too often). Many poisonous insecticides and weed killers etc. are compounds with Chlorine as a component.
To reduce the level of toxins in water we drink, do the following:
- do not use water from long unused pipes for drinking. Drain a few liters from the taps before collecting for drinking purposes (keep the initial few liters for washing purposes). This is especially the case early in the morning when water had stayed in the pipes overnight
- use activated carbon filters: activated carbon absorbs dangerous chemicals including Chlorine
- keep water overnight in a steel container or steel cooking pot (do not use plastic water bottles) to give time for the dissolved chlorine to escape into the air
- boil water before drinking: heating cause the water to lose some of the Chlorine in addition to killing bacteria
- use glass, ceramic or steel water containers and bottles (do not use plastic ones)
4. Drinking slightly alkaline water MAY help because ingestion of meats and man-made foods which are highly acidic upsets the pH balance in our body. Alkaline water also dissolves oils and fats (one cause of stroke and heart attacks) better. Investigations found that water in some parts of the world where the people tend to live longer are slightly alkaline (because their water sources are in areas with alkaline rocks etc).
Meats and water with dissolved chemicals (due to pollution, corrosion and chemical treatment etc) and all the man-made foods tend to be acidic and upset the pH balance in our body if not neutralised. Cancer thrive in acidic environment.
There are water treatment units sold publicly that make water slightly alkaline. In 2011, I bought steel capsules containing organic stones (containing alkaline sources like calcium etc.) that can be used for 3 years selling at S$50 each.
But BEWARE:
- although drinking slightly alkaline water does no harm, there is no scientific proof that it makes a lot of difference either (because it gets neutralised immediately by acid in our stomach). Our body is a very complicated system and simply drinking slightly alkaline water is not the 'solve all'. It is better to minimise pH imbalance in our body by simply avoiding too much acidic meat and manufactured food/drink intake, and drinking lots of water throughout the day!
- One multi-level marketing (MLM) company I know of sell 'Kangen machines' (from Japan) that produce 'ionized alkaline' water for S$5,000 but there is no proof that they work (the MLM was also giving most of that money out as 'bonuses' to the various levels of introducers!)
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-admire-her-old-water-and-not.html
GENERAL EATING GUIDE
Go Vegetarian Once a While and not eat meat for 1-2 days or regularly not have meat during alternate meals. You will feel very clean inside and fresh after that! Your faeces will not stink like when you eat meat. Note: A low-meat diet will make you sensitive to people who eat too much meat as they would smell of the animals they eat e.g. chinese people who like pork smell like pig when they get near to me which turns me off!
Eat easy to digest foods like fruits, soups, curds and porridge. Meats that are difficult to digest and the toxins they contain stress the body and shorten life span.
Avoid pre-cooked hawker food and utensils. If have to, take food served in hot & plain soups.
Never over eat, stop once you feel full. Over eating increases metabolic rate of cells which shortens their life span.
Do not lie down on couch or sleep after meals. Try to keep standing or go for a walk for 30 minutes. Otherwise make sure to sit upright. This is to avoid 'acid reflux' which is the back-flow of acid from stomach into oesophagus which will 'burn' linings in oesophagus resulting in 'chest burn' sensation.
Do NOT eat or drink acidic liquids 3 hours before sleep. Do not have oily and fatty food including milk and acidic drinks (like coffee, citrus fruit juice and soft drinks) at least 3 hours before going to bed. Consuming fatty and acidic food before sleeping triggers acid production in stomach that may 'burn' stomach ('gastric burn') and oesophagus ('acid reflux'). If hungry, drink hot milo, horlick, oat, sesame etc. (these drinks are starch based which require less stomach acid to digest). Use low fat milk if needed.
List of Good Foods:
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-foods-for-fabulous-abs.html
Healthy Breakfast Regime
- drink at least 2 glasses of water after waking and before eating
- eat 1 half-boiled egg or sandwich with fried egg
- avoid coffee and tea (malted drinks etc are better)
- brush teeth after eating (not before)
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2001/02/what-smart-chinese-feed-their-children.html
http://cckplanetblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/dental-care.html
[Note: caffeine in coffee and black tea (as opposed to chinese and green tea) are acidic and thickens blood. Thick blood results in bad circulation and reduces its ability to dissolve and remove oil/fat and harmful substances from body and blood vessels thus contributing to strokes and heart attacks. Green and Chinese tea on the other hand thins blood and helps in dissolving oil/fat and harmful substances]
Eat Lots of Fruits, Nuts, Beans and Vegetables
They are all great sources of vitamins, anti-oxidants and essential minerals (only plants can produce vitamins, animals cannot). Like egg is to animals, fruits, nuts and beans are the 'future children' of plants. Because of that, nature 'invests heavily' in them to ensure survival of the species by making sure they contain all the best and important ingredients for growth and health of their young!
Eat freshly cut fruits. Do not eat cut fruits left on stalls without ice or not in fridges. They may be infested with bacteria after long expsoure.
Take Traditional Chinese Herbal Soups
Chinese long ago had experimented with various herbs and found the ones that are most helpful in maintaining good health. Traditional Chinese soups containing ginseng, 'tang gui', red plums, etc are good anti-oxidants and body cleansers. http://www.chinese-traditional-food.com/chinese-soups.html
Take them every 1 to 2 weeks and change the variety of soup and herbs each time.
Fight Bad Bacteria with Good Bacteria (the Indian Way)
Indians long ago found out that yogurt is good for health because it contains good bacteria. Our body, especially our gut, is full of bacteria. We can never get rid of them. In fact, we need good bacteria to help digestion and control the spread of bad bacteria. The cells in our body also contain ancient 'captured bacteria' that perform functions critical to our cell survival (you can say our body is a collection of bacteria!). Excesive bad bateria can cause big tummy, illness and cancer. Our body need good bacteria to function properly.
Take a few spoonful of yogurt 2 or 3 times a week (I recommend traditional indian yogurt sold by indian traditional shops - 300 cc for $1.20 - cheap and good).
Or drink 'lassi' which is prepared by mixing a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a pinch of salt in a glass of water. It is a tasty health drink!
[Note: bad bacteria (from gut) that get into our blood causes plaque to form in blood vessels (like plaque in teeth/gum) and is one cause of heart attacks and strokes]
Eat Freshly Prepared Food (Not more than 4 hours)Recently, the Singapore government came up with a law requiring all food caterers to label their food preparation time and warned people not to consume food more than 4 hours old because bacterial growth is significantly higher when kept beyond 4 hours.
When consuming home cooked meals:
- consume immediately after preparation
- place unconsumed food in fridge immediately.
- do not consume food kept in fridge for more than 2 days (bacteria can still grow in cold conditions, just slower).
When re-heating frozen foods:
- use normal ovens versus microwave ovens. Normal ovens produce real heat while microwave ovens do not (they use magnetic induction which is different from heating)
- re-heat for at least 4 minutes in medium or high temperature
- leave food in oven a few more minutes after that to let the heat inside continue killing bacteria
When consuming outside food:
- avoid pre-cooked foods or re-heat them before consuming
- order food that will be cooked only when you order it
- food served in hot or boiling soup is preferred as the hot water helps kill bacteria
- if not sure, pick Indian briyani rice and food cooked in curry. Their spices have natural anti-bacterial properties (and India's gift to humanity)
[Notes:
- it is better to avoid outside food because most sellers use MSG which is poisonous
- they also do not wash ingredients properly
- hawker center tables and utensils are extremely dirty
- I always order dishes fresh out from the kitchens if lucky to see them being brought out]
Avoid All Man-made Foods, Sauces and DrinksAll canned and packaged foods and drinks (like soft drinks), and man-made sauces (tomato sauce, salad dressings etc), food sweeteners (like artificial sugar) and taste enhancers (like MSG) are poisonous and bad for health. They are not natural and do not exist in the natural environment!
Such 'manufactured' foods and drinks are made to last a few years because it is 'essential for business' (not health). It takes a few months to transport them from their factories to supermarkets around the world where they sit on shop selves and in people's kitchen cabinets for months before they are consumed. The reason why those foods and drinks can last so long is because they have been treated with chemicals (also known as 'preservatives') that kill off bacteria and germs, and stop them from growing. If those chemicals are poisonous to germs and bacteria, they are also poisonous to the cells in our bodies which are very similar in makeup to bacteria (read up about human cells).
Those chemicals also tend to make the foods and drinks acidic which is harmful to our bodies. Acids for example, dissolve the calcium in our bones resulting in under-development of bones and osteoporosis (weak bones) in old age.
[Note: If we leave a piece of fruit or meat on the table it would turn bad within a few hours because bacteria has started to eat it and multiplied. So how can those same things last for years in cans and plastic containers/bags?! Their manufacturers do not have magic. They are just using poisons to kill bacteria and stop them from re-growing! Those chemicals will have the same effect on our bodies except that it takes a longer time to take effect (and before we see their effects like cancers) because of our bodies' ability to heal itself. But the body can only do so much. Excessive dosage of those harmful chemicals would inevitably overwhelm the body's defences]
Avoid Farmed and Burnt Meat
All farmed animals (including farmed fish) contain high levels of man-made chemicals like growth hormones (to make them grow fast) and anti-biotics (to keep them from falling sick and die).
All these chemicals are not only toxic to our body but they are difficult to get rid off and therefore remain in our bodies for long periods. That is also why farmed meats should be avoided (more than farmed vegetables) - the toxins collected in those animals remains there and get passed on to us when we eat them. That is why cancers are highly related to the amount of meat consumed.
Over heating or burning foods like meat also change their chemical properties and make them highly toxic. So avoid burnt and barbequed meats, and fried foods!
But because protein is important for our health, one should not avoid meat entirely. Take them in small amounts. Beans, eggs, fish and seafood are better sources of proteins.
Avoid western foods. They use lots of meat and man-made sauces. If have to, choose fish burger or fish fillet.
Why Fish and Seafood?
One reason is because they live in water and water is a great solvent and cleanser! There is a higher chance that toxins in them will be removed by the water they swim and breathe in round the clock. Sea fish and seafood are preferable to fresh water ones for 2 reasons: the sea is less polluted than ponds (because of sheer size) and there is better chance that they are wild fish instead of farmed ones.
Another reason is they contain good Omega-3 oil and other minerals like iodine.
But BEWARE: seafood like mussels, cockels, clams and prawns are 'vacuum cleaners of the sea' meaning that they eat all the dead and 'dirty' matters at bottom of sea. Therefore toxins will accumulate in them - the bigger they are the more toxins. So choose the smallest sized ones!
[Notes: A friend of mine related this story. He has a businessman friend whose chicken farms supply chickens to KFC for the whole of Malaysia. That man told my friend that he does not eat chicken and advised my friend not to eat chicken. This was what he said 'in Nature, it takes a chicken 6 to 9 months to mature but we can do it in less than 2 months. How do you think we do that? We pump them with growth hormones!'
My mother also heard the same thing from small chicken farmers near my sisters home in a small town - they do not eat the chicken they sell, the ones they eat are 'kampung chickens' not fed with those chemicals.
Some chicken sold by supermarkets are labelled as 'free range' chickens. The 'theory' is they get to run around and are therefore healthier but it is just hype. They still feed them with lots of hormones and anti-biotics.
The same friend also told me about a friend he knew who died of intestinal cancer at about 40. That man liked to eat fried mee so much he had them every day! Intestinal cancer is one of the top killers in Malaysia and Singapore.
A cousin of mine died of intestinal cancer at age 41. I heard that he and family used to like eating satay a lot (burnt meat). When we visited him at home after he was diagnosed with that problem, we talked about the need to cut down on meat consumption. His response was 'yes, we cut down on meat a lot already'. So when we were invited to have lunch with them I was surprised to see that 3 out of 4 dishes had meat! Then I told myself that they did not know what they were talking about.]
Get Lots of Fresh Air
Like man-made food, 'modern' houses are all made with man-made materials like cement, fiberglass, asbestos, plastics, paints etc. which are all not natural and in many cases toxic. Those materials vaporize into the surrounding air and build up if those air is not expelled into the outside. That is why extended use of air-con is not healthy - they necessitate sealing up the house (to save energy) which result in accumulation of those toxins and reduction of oxygen level as they are used up over time.
For the same reason, air-coned public areas like malls and offices are the 'best' conveyors of air-born diseases like flu etc.
To maximise introduction of fresh air and keep house cool:
- have in-door live plants. They help absorb some of the toxins and introduce fresh oxygen into the air (the same way water plants treat water)
- create unblocked passages for fresh air to pass through house e.g. opening 1 window but closing all others stops air flow
- help push air into or out of house by placing fans at strategic locations along air passage preferably at entry and exit points like windows and door entrances
- make sure the fan assisted air-flow travel in one direction e.g. by not having 2 fans blowing in opposite directions
Have Regular Exercises and Sunlight
Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. Exercise keeps the body and bone in shape.
Sunlight is important as it helps body to produce Vitamin D that cannot be gotten from any food. But too strong sunlight is dangerous because too much UV causes skin cancer. That is why brisk walks in early morning or evening is best (make sure to wear shoes with good 'shock absorption' to minimise damage to joints).
Have stretching exercises like bending, turning, sit ups daily.
Preferably children should play games daily with friend especially team games against team opponents. Team sports help to develop the brain, strengthen bones and muscles, develop hand-eye coordination, promote team work and helps children learn to read body language!
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
10 Foods for Fabulous Abs
Yahoo Singapore
1. Yogurt is magic for the tum. Nutritionist Rania Batayneh recommends yogurt, “The probiotic bacteria in most yogurts help keep your digestive system healthy, which translates into a lower incidence of gas, bloating, and constipation, which can keep your tummy looking flat." Ideally go for the plain-flavoured yogurts, that don’t contain added sugars.
2. Switch to whole grain. The body shows a decreased insulin response to whole grain as compared to refined carbohydrate like rice and white bread. So replace those meals of white rice and milk bread with whole grains like lentils, brown rice, and whole wheat bread for a trimmer waistline.
3. Stock up on cruciferous veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, peppers, and yellow beans. They contain folate, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, and fiber, and are rich in vitamins A, C, and K.
4. Olive Oil: Mono-unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil, work to reduce belly fat and don’t increase calorie intake.
5. Apple cider vinegar: New research indicates that 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (ideally mixed with a glass of water), consumed daily over a period of 12 weeks, works to lower body weight and reduce belly fat. This is attributed to vinegar's acetic acid, which is believed to pump out proteins that break down fat.
6. Green tea contains certain chemicals called polyphenols and catechins that boost metabolism and help burn fat. Including 2-3 cups of green tea in your diet will help reduce that waistline, as well as provide a host of other health benefits.
7. Apples are one of the most popular negative calorie foods. This means that an apple burns more calories that it adds to the body, while being digested, making for a great, tasty snack that does nothing to add to body fat.
8. Eggs are a great source of protein and contain essential amino acids that the body needs to build everything from muscle fibres to brain chemicals. It is the perfect breakfast food, and ensures you feel less hungry during the day and reduces that urge to snack. [CCK : Eggs contain Choline which is essential for brain function]
9. Almonds provide the body with minerals like magnesium, and regulate blood sugar levels. A stable blood sugar level is key to prevent cravings that can lead to overeating.
10. Salmon, tuna and mackerel, in addition to being a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, also improve metabolism and help burn fat faster by improving the body’s glucose-insulin response. [CCK: should be ALL non-farm salt water fish because the oceans are much bigger than fresh water ponds and therefore have lower concentration of pollutants, and farmed fish are fed mam-made chemicals]
1. Yogurt is magic for the tum. Nutritionist Rania Batayneh recommends yogurt, “The probiotic bacteria in most yogurts help keep your digestive system healthy, which translates into a lower incidence of gas, bloating, and constipation, which can keep your tummy looking flat." Ideally go for the plain-flavoured yogurts, that don’t contain added sugars.
2. Switch to whole grain. The body shows a decreased insulin response to whole grain as compared to refined carbohydrate like rice and white bread. So replace those meals of white rice and milk bread with whole grains like lentils, brown rice, and whole wheat bread for a trimmer waistline.
3. Stock up on cruciferous veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, peppers, and yellow beans. They contain folate, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, and fiber, and are rich in vitamins A, C, and K.
4. Olive Oil: Mono-unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil, work to reduce belly fat and don’t increase calorie intake.
5. Apple cider vinegar: New research indicates that 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (ideally mixed with a glass of water), consumed daily over a period of 12 weeks, works to lower body weight and reduce belly fat. This is attributed to vinegar's acetic acid, which is believed to pump out proteins that break down fat.
6. Green tea contains certain chemicals called polyphenols and catechins that boost metabolism and help burn fat. Including 2-3 cups of green tea in your diet will help reduce that waistline, as well as provide a host of other health benefits.
7. Apples are one of the most popular negative calorie foods. This means that an apple burns more calories that it adds to the body, while being digested, making for a great, tasty snack that does nothing to add to body fat.
8. Eggs are a great source of protein and contain essential amino acids that the body needs to build everything from muscle fibres to brain chemicals. It is the perfect breakfast food, and ensures you feel less hungry during the day and reduces that urge to snack. [CCK : Eggs contain Choline which is essential for brain function]
9. Almonds provide the body with minerals like magnesium, and regulate blood sugar levels. A stable blood sugar level is key to prevent cravings that can lead to overeating.
10. Salmon, tuna and mackerel, in addition to being a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, also improve metabolism and help burn fat faster by improving the body’s glucose-insulin response. [CCK: should be ALL non-farm salt water fish because the oceans are much bigger than fresh water ponds and therefore have lower concentration of pollutants, and farmed fish are fed mam-made chemicals]
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Dental Care
Warning: Dental problems can cause heart problems as bacteria enter the blood streams.
What you need
• Dental floss
• Inter-dental or inter-proximal brush (optional)
• Tooth brush (soft or medium)
• Electric tooth brush (brand: Braun precision clean, optional)
• Steel dental pick
• Mouthwash
Cleaning Routine
1. Floss - take away the big pieces. Tie (using double knots) 2 ends of 12-inch long dental floss to form a ring. That will allow you to floss using entire length of the floss and have better grip of the floss. Flossing removes the larger deposits from teeth & gums.
Note:
- Make sure floss wraps around the side of teeth (like 'C') and not cut into and harm gum between teeth. Move floss up and down
- Rotate floss to use new clean section when you move to next tooth
2. Interdental Brush - clean the big holes & back of last teeth. Dip interdental (interproximal) brush in some toothpaste and clean gaps between teeth. Rinse brush with running water before moving to next tooth or quadrant.
Note:
- This step applies only for people with periodontitis (receded gums) which results in gaps/holes between teeth and is not necessary for people with good healthy gums/teeth.
- The back of the last teeth at back of mouth are difficult to reach using normal tooth brush, but easier with a large inter-dental brush.
3. Precision Clean (using electric brush) - getting to hard to get areas. Focus on difficult to reach areas i.e. teeth and gum lines at back of mouth especially wisdom teeth.
Note:
- Electric brushes are expensive, so use them where their return is highest.
- Use Step 9 to determine such areas to focus
4. Main Brush (using normal brush) - Start with Soaking. At start, quickly brush all surfaces of all teeth, gums, tongue and walls of mouth. This is to spread toothpaste around mouth and let the toothpaste's chemical cleaning to start working on all parts from the beginning.
Note:
- Use a good amount of toothpaste - do not try to save on it!
- Change toothpaste brands regularly. Bacteria adapt to cleaning agents. Changing toothpaste regularly reduce chance of that happening.
- Use different pastes for morning/night brush if possible e.g. normal paste for night and sensitive paste for morning or vice versa.
5. Main Brush (using normal brush). Slowly and lightly brush teeth using circular motions with brush tilted at 45 degrees and bristles pointed towards root of teeth. That is to make sure space between gum and teeth are also brushed. After brushing teeth and gum line, make sure to brush the rest of the gums, walls/sides of mouth and tongue
Note:
- It is how long you brush that matters, not how hard. Brushing hard harms gum
- Use different brushes with different patterns/shapes for AM/PM. More thorough since different shapes reach different areas
- Manual brush which has longer bristles is better than electric brush because longer bristles can reach deeper into gaps and hard to reach areas
6. Post Brush Soaking. After brushing, leave tooth paste in mouth for a couple of minutes to let chemical cleaning work longer (have bath in meantime etc).
7. Rinse mouth with mouthwash (optional) for 2 to 3 minutes. Dilute if required. Avoid this except when some bleeding or ulcer detected.
8. Dental Pick - cleanliness check. Use steel dental pick to pick at difficult to reach areas like gaps between teeth and see how clean the teeth and gums are. Spend more time and focus on such areas when flossing, brushing etc.
Note: Unclean areas will smell or bleed because of bacterial infection.
How to Clean Brushes & Dental Pick
Once a while or when you notice plaque (bacterial deposit) formation, clean tooth brushes (incl electric brush heads) and dental pick as follows:
- soak in boiling water with some mild hand wash (or natural anti-bacterial like vinegar, lemon juice)
- while soaking, use dental pick to scrape the base of bristles to loosen and get rid of plaque
- keep soaking for a few hours
Change tooth brush every 3 to 6 months, or if bristles are flared
Go for dental check every 6 months.
You may not be aware of gum infections like gingivitis until it is too late. Dentists can detect such problems early and help correct it before it gets too advanced (condition known as periodontitis - advanced gum infection and irreparable bone loss below gum).
What you need
• Dental floss
• Inter-dental or inter-proximal brush (optional)
• Tooth brush (soft or medium)
• Electric tooth brush (brand: Braun precision clean, optional)
• Steel dental pick
• Mouthwash
Cleaning Routine
1. Floss - take away the big pieces. Tie (using double knots) 2 ends of 12-inch long dental floss to form a ring. That will allow you to floss using entire length of the floss and have better grip of the floss. Flossing removes the larger deposits from teeth & gums.
Note:
- Make sure floss wraps around the side of teeth (like 'C') and not cut into and harm gum between teeth. Move floss up and down
- Rotate floss to use new clean section when you move to next tooth
2. Interdental Brush - clean the big holes & back of last teeth. Dip interdental (interproximal) brush in some toothpaste and clean gaps between teeth. Rinse brush with running water before moving to next tooth or quadrant.
Note:
- This step applies only for people with periodontitis (receded gums) which results in gaps/holes between teeth and is not necessary for people with good healthy gums/teeth.
- The back of the last teeth at back of mouth are difficult to reach using normal tooth brush, but easier with a large inter-dental brush.
3. Precision Clean (using electric brush) - getting to hard to get areas. Focus on difficult to reach areas i.e. teeth and gum lines at back of mouth especially wisdom teeth.
Note:
- Electric brushes are expensive, so use them where their return is highest.
- Use Step 9 to determine such areas to focus
4. Main Brush (using normal brush) - Start with Soaking. At start, quickly brush all surfaces of all teeth, gums, tongue and walls of mouth. This is to spread toothpaste around mouth and let the toothpaste's chemical cleaning to start working on all parts from the beginning.
Note:
- Use a good amount of toothpaste - do not try to save on it!
- Change toothpaste brands regularly. Bacteria adapt to cleaning agents. Changing toothpaste regularly reduce chance of that happening.
- Use different pastes for morning/night brush if possible e.g. normal paste for night and sensitive paste for morning or vice versa.
5. Main Brush (using normal brush). Slowly and lightly brush teeth using circular motions with brush tilted at 45 degrees and bristles pointed towards root of teeth. That is to make sure space between gum and teeth are also brushed. After brushing teeth and gum line, make sure to brush the rest of the gums, walls/sides of mouth and tongue
Note:
- It is how long you brush that matters, not how hard. Brushing hard harms gum
- Use different brushes with different patterns/shapes for AM/PM. More thorough since different shapes reach different areas
- Manual brush which has longer bristles is better than electric brush because longer bristles can reach deeper into gaps and hard to reach areas
6. Post Brush Soaking. After brushing, leave tooth paste in mouth for a couple of minutes to let chemical cleaning work longer (have bath in meantime etc).
7. Rinse mouth with mouthwash (optional) for 2 to 3 minutes. Dilute if required. Avoid this except when some bleeding or ulcer detected.
8. Dental Pick - cleanliness check. Use steel dental pick to pick at difficult to reach areas like gaps between teeth and see how clean the teeth and gums are. Spend more time and focus on such areas when flossing, brushing etc.
Note: Unclean areas will smell or bleed because of bacterial infection.
How to Clean Brushes & Dental Pick
Once a while or when you notice plaque (bacterial deposit) formation, clean tooth brushes (incl electric brush heads) and dental pick as follows:
- soak in boiling water with some mild hand wash (or natural anti-bacterial like vinegar, lemon juice)
- while soaking, use dental pick to scrape the base of bristles to loosen and get rid of plaque
- keep soaking for a few hours
Change tooth brush every 3 to 6 months, or if bristles are flared
Go for dental check every 6 months.
You may not be aware of gum infections like gingivitis until it is too late. Dentists can detect such problems early and help correct it before it gets too advanced (condition known as periodontitis - advanced gum infection and irreparable bone loss below gum).
Friday, July 13, 2007
Indonesian Coffee that Beats Starbucks
No Shit, this coffee bean!
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-coffee13jul13,0,3547326.story?coll=la-default-underdog
$600-a-pound coffee
Indonesia's kopi luwak is a rare delicacy of peculiar provenance -- beans plucked from the droppings of wild civets.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
July 13, 2007
Bandar Lampung, Java Island, Indonesia — TO connoisseurs of fine coffee, only one is good to the last dropping.
Human hands don't harvest the beans that make this rare brew. They're plucked by the sharp claws and fangs of wild civets, catlike beasts with bug eyes and weaselly noses that love their coffee fresh.
They move at night, creeping along the limbs of robusta and hybrid arabusta trees, sniffing out sweet red coffee cherries and selecting only the tastiest. After chewing off the fruity exterior, they swallow the hard innards.
In the animals' stomachs, enzymes in the gastric juices massage the beans, smoothing off the harsh edges that make coffee bitter and produce caffeine jitters. Humans then separate the greenish-brown beans from the rest of the dung, and once a thin outer layer is removed, they are ready for roasting. The result is a delicacy with a markup so steep it would make a drug dealer weep.
It's called kopi luwak, from the Indonesian words for coffee and civet, and by the time it reaches the shelves of swish foreign food emporiums, devotees fork out as much as $600 for a pound — if they can even find that much. The British royal family is said to enjoy sipping it. A single cup can sell for $30 at a five-star hotel in Hong Kong.
To anyone satisfied by a regular cup of joe with the morning newspaper, it might sound like a lot of hokum. Canadian food scientist Massimo Marcone thought kopi luwak was just an urban legend. Then he did some lab work.
He found that a civet's digestive system does indeed remove some of the caffeine, which explains why a cup of kopi luwak doesn't have the kick that other strong coffees do. The civet's enzymes also reduce proteins that make coffee bitter.
Marcone is one of the world's leading experts on foods that make most people go yuck! He recently wrote a book on the subject. One thing that really gets his glands salivating is casu frazigu cheese, which is packed with so many live maggots that it's not only disgusting, the Italian government outlawed it.
"The rotten cheese has millions of live maggots in it, and it's very highly prized all through Italy," Marcone said. "It sells under the counter for about $100 a pound. As you're carrying your bag with the cheese in it, you can actually hear the maggots hitting the side of the bag.
"People eat the cheese and maggots altogether. There's nothing in there that can cause harm.
"Days before the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Marcone was in Indonesia's Sumatran rain forest, where he collected about 10 pounds of civet droppings laced with coffee beans. He now uses it as "the gold standard" to rate other kopi luwaks in his lab at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Like a forensic scientist reading a bullet's markings, Marcone stares at kopi luwak under an electron microscope, searching for striations that tell him that a civet excreted it. His studies found that kopi luwak drinkers need to be careful to avoid being duped.
"About 42% of all the kopi luwaks that are presently on sale are either adulterated or complete fakes, unfortunately," he said.
Real kopi luwak has a top note of rich, dark chocolate, with secondary notes that are musty and earthy, the scientist said. An Indonesian coffee lover described the scent as the smell of moist earth after a rainfall, with hints of vanilla, that teases the palate for hours after the cup is empty.
Other coffees, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain, may score better on official cupping tests that judge qualities such as aroma, taste and fragrance, Marcone said. But they don't come with quite the exotic cachet of civet brew.
"From the farm gate to the plate, the story is missing for most of our foods," he said. "Part of eating is not only the nutrition one gets, but also the communing with others at the table. Kopi luwak has the advantage of its story.
"And as ice breakers go, coffee from civets is certainly special.
Local lore says villagers discovered civet droppings made for a smooth cup of coffee centuries ago, when they were forced to work on Dutch plantations and hand over everything they picked to their colonial masters. Civets provided the only coffee the workers could scrounge for themselves.
Today, the world's only source for genuine, uncut kopi luwak is Southeast Asian civets, and most still comes from the ones foraging in Indonesia's coffee plantations. That limits production to a craving for coffee cherries, and the digestive abilities, of a shrinking civet population.
A pound of their droppings yields less than 5 ounces of beans. Roasting reduces the quantity by an additional 20%. With just 500 to 1,000 pounds of the real thing coming on the global market each year, demand quickly drives up the price.
Genuine kopi luwak has been difficult to find in the U.S. for years, said California coffee importer Tom Kilty, who traveled to Indonesia in 1989 to find a reliable source. A decade later, Kilty said, coffee coming from a European supplier didn't look the same, so the company he was working for stopped selling it, even though it was going for $120 a pound.
"I am still on the lookout," Kilty said from Redwood City.
THE astronomical value of their droppings should be a boon to civets, whose reputation took a beating in 2003 when civet cats sold in China's markets were suspected of causing the lethal SARS epidemic. The animals are a delicacy in southern China.
In Indonesia, civets are struggling along with much of the country's wildlife to hold on to their habitat as a growing human population encroaches.
To farmers scratching out a living harvesting pepper, cacao, coffee and rubber on an Indonesian mountainside, fresh civet scat lying in the dirt and dead leaves is hardly worth the bother. The animals also have a taste for cacao, bananas, papaya and other fruits, which once digested, are no delicacy.
It's often hard to know what is in the scat. Sometimes even old hands are fooled by squirrel or bat droppings thrown in for weight.
Even if a farmer does know the animal has chewed at his coffee cherries, it's just as likely to deposit the valuable droppings on a neighbor's land.
More aggressive civets also raid families' chickens, and when the animals grow to more than 100 pounds, baring those claws and fangs, they scare a lot of people, too. And because civet meat makes good eating, the way most folks here see it, the only good civet is a dead civet.
"They're a farmer's enemy," said Ponirin Suparlan, 45, a barefoot farmer who earns $600 a year from rubber and coffee trees, and any civet droppings he finds. He would rather eat a civet than let it dine on his crops. "If I find one, I will surely kill it.
"Villagers aren't sure how many wild civets are left in the area, but the population is obviously shrinking because the dung is getting harder to find each year.
Still, small-time collectors such as Suparlan earn about $3 a kilo, roughly twice as much as they get for regular coffee. It's peanuts compared with what foreign buyers earn, often after cutting it with regular coffee to boost their profits in places such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Dealing in such an expensive delicacy is a cutthroat business. People who know where to find the dung protect their stakes with the paranoia of Gold Rush prospectors.
Susanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, moonlights producing kopi luwak when he's off duty from a government shrimp hatchery. But he says he has lost almost $15,000 of his savings trying to make a go of his business.
He and his relatives have processed more than 440 pounds of civet dung into kopi luwak in three years, enough to be rich by now. They've done it the old-fashioned way, roasting the beans over wood fires in clay pans as big as woks. With a log-sized pestle in a stone mortar, they pounded the beans into dark coffee with the texture of cocoa.
But Susanto says he lost a lot of money handing out the world's most expensive coffee as free samples to potential buyers from Seattle to Russia and Australia, only to wait for contracts that never came through.
He has held out against big-name Indonesian buyers who tried to chisel his price down to a fraction of what they would make selling it abroad, hoping for an export deal of his own.
But he has been cheated by so many foreign and Indonesian dealers that he's on the verge of giving up unless his latest idea starts paying off.
He agreed to let a reporter see his operation, a nearly two-hour drive outside the southern Sumatran city of Bandar Lampung, only on the condition that he keep the location secret.
Susanto thinks the best way to guarantee pure kopi luwak is to farm it. So he captured 17 civets, locked them up in wire and bamboo cages, and gave them names such as Claudia, Helga and Romeo.
They are hand-fed ripe coffee cherries along with grapes and other fruits, and fresh milk. Despite the pampering, a few died in captivity, and others chewed their way through the wire and escaped back into the coffee plantations, where they are free to follow their instincts to the best berries. Only nine remain with Susanto.
He dreams of raising $60,000 to build a kind of nature preserve for civets, where they could eat coffee cherries to their hearts' content, depositing choice, certified kopi luwak in exchange for a nice, safe place to live.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-coffee13jul13,0,3547326.story?coll=la-default-underdog
$600-a-pound coffee
Indonesia's kopi luwak is a rare delicacy of peculiar provenance -- beans plucked from the droppings of wild civets.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
July 13, 2007
Bandar Lampung, Java Island, Indonesia — TO connoisseurs of fine coffee, only one is good to the last dropping.
Human hands don't harvest the beans that make this rare brew. They're plucked by the sharp claws and fangs of wild civets, catlike beasts with bug eyes and weaselly noses that love their coffee fresh.
They move at night, creeping along the limbs of robusta and hybrid arabusta trees, sniffing out sweet red coffee cherries and selecting only the tastiest. After chewing off the fruity exterior, they swallow the hard innards.
In the animals' stomachs, enzymes in the gastric juices massage the beans, smoothing off the harsh edges that make coffee bitter and produce caffeine jitters. Humans then separate the greenish-brown beans from the rest of the dung, and once a thin outer layer is removed, they are ready for roasting. The result is a delicacy with a markup so steep it would make a drug dealer weep.
It's called kopi luwak, from the Indonesian words for coffee and civet, and by the time it reaches the shelves of swish foreign food emporiums, devotees fork out as much as $600 for a pound — if they can even find that much. The British royal family is said to enjoy sipping it. A single cup can sell for $30 at a five-star hotel in Hong Kong.
To anyone satisfied by a regular cup of joe with the morning newspaper, it might sound like a lot of hokum. Canadian food scientist Massimo Marcone thought kopi luwak was just an urban legend. Then he did some lab work.
He found that a civet's digestive system does indeed remove some of the caffeine, which explains why a cup of kopi luwak doesn't have the kick that other strong coffees do. The civet's enzymes also reduce proteins that make coffee bitter.
Marcone is one of the world's leading experts on foods that make most people go yuck! He recently wrote a book on the subject. One thing that really gets his glands salivating is casu frazigu cheese, which is packed with so many live maggots that it's not only disgusting, the Italian government outlawed it.
"The rotten cheese has millions of live maggots in it, and it's very highly prized all through Italy," Marcone said. "It sells under the counter for about $100 a pound. As you're carrying your bag with the cheese in it, you can actually hear the maggots hitting the side of the bag.
"People eat the cheese and maggots altogether. There's nothing in there that can cause harm.
"Days before the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Marcone was in Indonesia's Sumatran rain forest, where he collected about 10 pounds of civet droppings laced with coffee beans. He now uses it as "the gold standard" to rate other kopi luwaks in his lab at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Like a forensic scientist reading a bullet's markings, Marcone stares at kopi luwak under an electron microscope, searching for striations that tell him that a civet excreted it. His studies found that kopi luwak drinkers need to be careful to avoid being duped.
"About 42% of all the kopi luwaks that are presently on sale are either adulterated or complete fakes, unfortunately," he said.
Real kopi luwak has a top note of rich, dark chocolate, with secondary notes that are musty and earthy, the scientist said. An Indonesian coffee lover described the scent as the smell of moist earth after a rainfall, with hints of vanilla, that teases the palate for hours after the cup is empty.
Other coffees, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain, may score better on official cupping tests that judge qualities such as aroma, taste and fragrance, Marcone said. But they don't come with quite the exotic cachet of civet brew.
"From the farm gate to the plate, the story is missing for most of our foods," he said. "Part of eating is not only the nutrition one gets, but also the communing with others at the table. Kopi luwak has the advantage of its story.
"And as ice breakers go, coffee from civets is certainly special.
Local lore says villagers discovered civet droppings made for a smooth cup of coffee centuries ago, when they were forced to work on Dutch plantations and hand over everything they picked to their colonial masters. Civets provided the only coffee the workers could scrounge for themselves.
Today, the world's only source for genuine, uncut kopi luwak is Southeast Asian civets, and most still comes from the ones foraging in Indonesia's coffee plantations. That limits production to a craving for coffee cherries, and the digestive abilities, of a shrinking civet population.
A pound of their droppings yields less than 5 ounces of beans. Roasting reduces the quantity by an additional 20%. With just 500 to 1,000 pounds of the real thing coming on the global market each year, demand quickly drives up the price.
Genuine kopi luwak has been difficult to find in the U.S. for years, said California coffee importer Tom Kilty, who traveled to Indonesia in 1989 to find a reliable source. A decade later, Kilty said, coffee coming from a European supplier didn't look the same, so the company he was working for stopped selling it, even though it was going for $120 a pound.
"I am still on the lookout," Kilty said from Redwood City.
THE astronomical value of their droppings should be a boon to civets, whose reputation took a beating in 2003 when civet cats sold in China's markets were suspected of causing the lethal SARS epidemic. The animals are a delicacy in southern China.
In Indonesia, civets are struggling along with much of the country's wildlife to hold on to their habitat as a growing human population encroaches.
To farmers scratching out a living harvesting pepper, cacao, coffee and rubber on an Indonesian mountainside, fresh civet scat lying in the dirt and dead leaves is hardly worth the bother. The animals also have a taste for cacao, bananas, papaya and other fruits, which once digested, are no delicacy.
It's often hard to know what is in the scat. Sometimes even old hands are fooled by squirrel or bat droppings thrown in for weight.
Even if a farmer does know the animal has chewed at his coffee cherries, it's just as likely to deposit the valuable droppings on a neighbor's land.
More aggressive civets also raid families' chickens, and when the animals grow to more than 100 pounds, baring those claws and fangs, they scare a lot of people, too. And because civet meat makes good eating, the way most folks here see it, the only good civet is a dead civet.
"They're a farmer's enemy," said Ponirin Suparlan, 45, a barefoot farmer who earns $600 a year from rubber and coffee trees, and any civet droppings he finds. He would rather eat a civet than let it dine on his crops. "If I find one, I will surely kill it.
"Villagers aren't sure how many wild civets are left in the area, but the population is obviously shrinking because the dung is getting harder to find each year.
Still, small-time collectors such as Suparlan earn about $3 a kilo, roughly twice as much as they get for regular coffee. It's peanuts compared with what foreign buyers earn, often after cutting it with regular coffee to boost their profits in places such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Dealing in such an expensive delicacy is a cutthroat business. People who know where to find the dung protect their stakes with the paranoia of Gold Rush prospectors.
Susanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, moonlights producing kopi luwak when he's off duty from a government shrimp hatchery. But he says he has lost almost $15,000 of his savings trying to make a go of his business.
He and his relatives have processed more than 440 pounds of civet dung into kopi luwak in three years, enough to be rich by now. They've done it the old-fashioned way, roasting the beans over wood fires in clay pans as big as woks. With a log-sized pestle in a stone mortar, they pounded the beans into dark coffee with the texture of cocoa.
But Susanto says he lost a lot of money handing out the world's most expensive coffee as free samples to potential buyers from Seattle to Russia and Australia, only to wait for contracts that never came through.
He has held out against big-name Indonesian buyers who tried to chisel his price down to a fraction of what they would make selling it abroad, hoping for an export deal of his own.
But he has been cheated by so many foreign and Indonesian dealers that he's on the verge of giving up unless his latest idea starts paying off.
He agreed to let a reporter see his operation, a nearly two-hour drive outside the southern Sumatran city of Bandar Lampung, only on the condition that he keep the location secret.
Susanto thinks the best way to guarantee pure kopi luwak is to farm it. So he captured 17 civets, locked them up in wire and bamboo cages, and gave them names such as Claudia, Helga and Romeo.
They are hand-fed ripe coffee cherries along with grapes and other fruits, and fresh milk. Despite the pampering, a few died in captivity, and others chewed their way through the wire and escaped back into the coffee plantations, where they are free to follow their instincts to the best berries. Only nine remain with Susanto.
He dreams of raising $60,000 to build a kind of nature preserve for civets, where they could eat coffee cherries to their hearts' content, depositing choice, certified kopi luwak in exchange for a nice, safe place to live.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
What Smart Chinese Feed their Children
One day I shared with a colleague what I thought were a couple of important things in our diet: lots of water and regular consumption of eggs (my view was fears about high cholesterol in eggs is a hype).
That colleague agreed and told me that a relative of his living in the US follow this breakfast regime for their children:
- they drink lots of water
- the water are served from magnetised steel containers
- they have half-boiled eggs
He said the children of that family all ended up with PhDs...
CCK Note:
The reason why I thought eggs are special is this. The egg is the ONLY naturally occuring thing that can produce a complete and healthy life form without any external help except for some warmth. Even fruits, nuts and seeds of plants (which are also special) need to draw on water and nutrients from the surrounding earth. But eggs do not even need water which is amply supplied within it. To be able to do that, the egg must be truly special and must contain all the important ingredients of life!
I later read that eggs contain many good protein and chemicals including Choline which help development of brain cells.
That colleague agreed and told me that a relative of his living in the US follow this breakfast regime for their children:
- they drink lots of water
- the water are served from magnetised steel containers
- they have half-boiled eggs
He said the children of that family all ended up with PhDs...
CCK Note:
The reason why I thought eggs are special is this. The egg is the ONLY naturally occuring thing that can produce a complete and healthy life form without any external help except for some warmth. Even fruits, nuts and seeds of plants (which are also special) need to draw on water and nutrients from the surrounding earth. But eggs do not even need water which is amply supplied within it. To be able to do that, the egg must be truly special and must contain all the important ingredients of life!
I later read that eggs contain many good protein and chemicals including Choline which help development of brain cells.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Monkey
This joke highlights the dangers when one follows what others say without thinking & verifying for oneself before believing/acting (some also call that faith for convenience).
Another example of this is a real life story. A couple of months back, I was having breakfast at a coffee shop. It consisted of a cup of tea, 2 slices of bread and 2 half boiled eggs. I got a seat opposite to an elderly Malay man who was probably close to 80. The sight of me relishing the half boiled eggs, triggered his appetite and probably some long gone memories, and he said to me "I'll go get some eggs too".
After he came back with his eggs he told me that he was afraid of taking eggs because of all the talk about high cholesterol.
To which I gave him my usual views about how many people take things out of context esp. the unthinking ones.
I told him that many foods have high cholesterol if you take them out of proportion e.g. beef that the Westerners eat by pounds per day! Their doctors' recommendation not to take more than a few eggs a day was meant for these people who are already eating too much. But which Asian that does not ape these people does eat meat by a quarter of pound per meal?
On top of that, as far as I can recall, eggs had been a traditionally recognised nutritious staple for Asians, and parents used to make sure their young ones have them daily. And what other natural food has the ability to sustain a young life all on its own? Eggs got to be rich in nutrients to be able to do that.
The old man agreed by saying "ya ah, my father used to have eggs every morning without fail and he lived to 110 years!"
I said "there, that's proof that all the fears you had are unfounded".
The 2 of us laughed as we enjoyed those eggs and wondered aloud how many of us will get to live to the ripe old age of that pak cik's father.
And I wondered how many fools there are out there who will say that they won't touch eggs but will gobble down a bottle of coke without question (like the stupid Americans who drink them by litres everyday).
And that thing does not even carry an expiry date! For such fools, that probably means it is proof of a great product!
One day I will tell you another story of a stupid American woman who sends a chain mail complaining about soya beans and her cancer....
xxx
From: Dion Wan
Re: Monkey
There was once a hat-seller who passed by a forest on his way back. The weather was very hot and he decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so he left his whole basket of hats by the side. A few hours later, he woke up by some sounds. The next thing he realized was that all his hats was gone.
Then he heard some monkeys on top of the tree and he looked up. To his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys. They have taken all his hats!
The hat-seller sits down and tries to think of how he can get the hats down. He started to think and scratched his head. The next moment, he realised that the monkeys were doing the same action. Next, he took his own hat and fan himself. The monkeys did exactly the same!
An idea strikes him - he took his hat and threw it on the floor. And, the monkeys did the same too. Alas, he managed to get all his hats back.
Fifty years later, his grandson also became a hat-seller and had heard this monkey story from his grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest. Feeling very hot, he took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the floor. Again, when he woke up, he realised that all the hats were gone. He looked up and found that the monkeys had taken all his hats. Remembering what his grandfather had told him, he started scratching his head and the monkeys followed. He took down his hat and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed.
Now, very convinced of his grandfather's idea, he threw his hat on the floor ... but to his surprise, the monkeys still held on to all the hats!
Then one monkey climbed down the tree, grabbed the hat on the floor, gave him a slap and said "You think only you have grandfather meh........???!!!"
Another example of this is a real life story. A couple of months back, I was having breakfast at a coffee shop. It consisted of a cup of tea, 2 slices of bread and 2 half boiled eggs. I got a seat opposite to an elderly Malay man who was probably close to 80. The sight of me relishing the half boiled eggs, triggered his appetite and probably some long gone memories, and he said to me "I'll go get some eggs too".
After he came back with his eggs he told me that he was afraid of taking eggs because of all the talk about high cholesterol.
To which I gave him my usual views about how many people take things out of context esp. the unthinking ones.
I told him that many foods have high cholesterol if you take them out of proportion e.g. beef that the Westerners eat by pounds per day! Their doctors' recommendation not to take more than a few eggs a day was meant for these people who are already eating too much. But which Asian that does not ape these people does eat meat by a quarter of pound per meal?
On top of that, as far as I can recall, eggs had been a traditionally recognised nutritious staple for Asians, and parents used to make sure their young ones have them daily. And what other natural food has the ability to sustain a young life all on its own? Eggs got to be rich in nutrients to be able to do that.
The old man agreed by saying "ya ah, my father used to have eggs every morning without fail and he lived to 110 years!"
I said "there, that's proof that all the fears you had are unfounded".
The 2 of us laughed as we enjoyed those eggs and wondered aloud how many of us will get to live to the ripe old age of that pak cik's father.
And I wondered how many fools there are out there who will say that they won't touch eggs but will gobble down a bottle of coke without question (like the stupid Americans who drink them by litres everyday).
And that thing does not even carry an expiry date! For such fools, that probably means it is proof of a great product!
One day I will tell you another story of a stupid American woman who sends a chain mail complaining about soya beans and her cancer....
xxx
From: Dion Wan
Re: Monkey
There was once a hat-seller who passed by a forest on his way back. The weather was very hot and he decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so he left his whole basket of hats by the side. A few hours later, he woke up by some sounds. The next thing he realized was that all his hats was gone.
Then he heard some monkeys on top of the tree and he looked up. To his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys. They have taken all his hats!
The hat-seller sits down and tries to think of how he can get the hats down. He started to think and scratched his head. The next moment, he realised that the monkeys were doing the same action. Next, he took his own hat and fan himself. The monkeys did exactly the same!
An idea strikes him - he took his hat and threw it on the floor. And, the monkeys did the same too. Alas, he managed to get all his hats back.
Fifty years later, his grandson also became a hat-seller and had heard this monkey story from his grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest. Feeling very hot, he took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the floor. Again, when he woke up, he realised that all the hats were gone. He looked up and found that the monkeys had taken all his hats. Remembering what his grandfather had told him, he started scratching his head and the monkeys followed. He took down his hat and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed.
Now, very convinced of his grandfather's idea, he threw his hat on the floor ... but to his surprise, the monkeys still held on to all the hats!
Then one monkey climbed down the tree, grabbed the hat on the floor, gave him a slap and said "You think only you have grandfather meh........???!!!"
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